BAFT Master Trade Loan Agreement (MTLA)

The BAFT Trade Finance Documentation Working Group developed the BAFT MTLA, a bank to bank master trade loan agreement under English law and New York law in 2014, with the assistance of outside counsel to provide clear, concise and consistent language for usage by the industry.

The 2025 Master Trade Loan Agreement (MTLA) is designed as an industry-standard document used for lending between financial institutions to finance or refinance specified trade transactions. The 2025 MTLA – English Law reflects changes based on current market expectations, law, and practice including the demise of LIBOR, and the impact of Brexit―as EU Law no longer applies to the UK.

Overview of key changes include:

1. Structure – The clause order has been reworked, introducing an offer and acceptance mechanism for the request and making of Trade Loans.
2. Trade Loan Request – More provisions and commercial terms are now included in the Trade Loan Request to reduce the amount of optional wording in the main body of the agreement.
3. Branches: A new concept of “Booking Office” has been introduced which will allow the parties to select the relevant office or branch in the relevant Trade Loan Request and/or Acceptance for a particular Trade Loan.
4. Sustainability Clauses: This document includes optional sustainability clauses that can be incorporated into a Trade Loan Request under the 2025 MTLA where the parties want to incorporate any applicable sustainability standards.
5. Completion of the 2025 MTLA – English Law: Several sections include square brackets where the parties must fill in the blanks or agree on additions or deletions to tailor the Agreement to their needs.
6. Other provisions: Further provisions have been added or updated to the Agreement.

For more details on these changes, refer to the Guidance Notes which is included with the template purchase.

Note: The 2025 MTLA – English Law differs in structure from the previous 2014 MTLA – English Law but does not replace it―the 2014 version is still available for use.

Encouraging adoption of a master standardized document improves protection, simplifies the process and efficiency of borrowing and lending globally.